dirk vander kooij

Dutch designer Dirk Vander Kooij is a true craftsman, although most of the things he produces are actually not made by hand. He is a new kind of craftsman, one who embraces technology and machines. The adventure began in 2010 when Dirk got fascinated by an old 3D printer for his final project.“You can actually see the lines running where the shape is built. Printers of the new generation create only slippery material, while I prefer the low resolution structure”, he says. The designer-creator-craftsman built his own 3D printer in a period of 1.5 years and graduated cum laude from the Design Academy. With his Endless collection, Dirk made a flying start as the creator of the first worldwide robot which can extrude furniture pieces from 100% recycled material. This creation led him to win the Dutch Design Award in 2011. “Plastic is actually durable, beautiful and elastic. I can make objects, unknown as plastic ones”, he says. Dirk stays true to his philosophy: procedures to get into a new product are as important as the final product itself.